re: PC Discussion - Gaming, Performance and Enthusiasts

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what sort of machinery do you use to do the socket change outs?

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I bought an infrared BGA rework station. It's just a cheap one I paid $450 for so I can get my feet wet but it works so far no problems. I plan on upgrading soon though since it seems like something I am going to keep doing.

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also, how do you know all the board needs is a new socket?

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I have been buying brand new boards from Newegg they take in as returns with bent pins. I have a few other sources I get some from but so far Newegg has been the majority. All of the boards except for one that I have bought still had the plastic protectors on the heat sinks and stuff. People have been messing them up while installing the CPUs.

I also bought a MOBO tester in case it doesn't post or something after I change the socket out. If I mess the board up too bad I either RMA (if I can) or save them for scrap parts. I have been just buying Asrock boards because you can take a sledge hammer to an Asrock board and they will send you a replacement for $50. I sent them back the first 4 I fricked up and the replacements should be here next week. I will make a little on those boards but at least I am not losing money on them while learning.

I only have an Asus board that I can't do anything with so far because I pulled the connector pads off of the mobo when taking the old socket off. It was the second one I did and I only paid $12 shipped for it so no biggie.

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for our purposes at work it either works or it doesnt. if it doesnt work, get a new one.

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I called some shops last week here in LC and they said the same thing but only because there is no one in the area that does BGA rework. I am taking some business cards into some next week and a few of them seemed genuinely interested. We will see.

I am also going to see about buying their bad stock to repair and sell on ebay.